Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 19: Parent-Teacher Conference

Meanwhile...

From the east window of the Headmaster's Office, Severus Snape watched as Harry stormed out of Hagrid's hut in an uncharacteristic fury, followed soon after by three friends and two enemies. Snape's face had a curious expression as he saw the Granger girl run after Potter – something oddly halfway between a smile and a sneer. Truthfully, he wanted to give the girl points with one hand and take them away with the other. It had taxed his skill with the Dark Arts to their limit to prevent Quirrell from slaying The Other Potter. Then, the girl had solved the problem elegantly (if accidentally) simply by knocking Quirrell over to break his line of sight and then by creating a distraction with her Bluebell Flame Charm. Of course, she had used the Bluebell Flames against him, but luckily, the magical flames generally could not harm living things and merely inflicted some minor scorching to the hem of Snape's robes. The Potions Master assumed that she had mistakenly thought him the cause of The Other Potter's trials instead of being the one trying to save him, but he suspected that The Sensible Potter had already set her to rights on the matter. Or perhaps not – from the looks of his uncharacteristic shouting, something had clearly happened to infuriate the boy.

Snape's ruminations on the First Year children and their activities served to block out the idiotic ravings of The Worst Potter, but a sudden lull in the level of general stupidity behind him caused him to realize he'd been asked a question.

"I beg your pardon, Headmaster. I was lost in thought."

"I asked, Severus, if you had any idea why Professor Quirrell might target Jim Potter under these circumstances? He has made no move against the boy so far. Why now?"

"Frankly, I suspect it is because of the ill-considered decision to let the boy play as Seeker despite his youth and inexperience," said Snape, unwittingly echoing Harry's own theory. "The whole thing has smacked of favoritism and pandering from the start, and if he'd died in his first match, it is likely you would have been blamed for allowing him to play. At a minimum, you would have faced a possible suspension by the Board of Governors. Lucius Malfoy, I'm sure, would happily use the boy's death against you. With you out of Hogwarts, Quirrell would have had a clear shot at the Stone ... which is almost amusing considering the Stone isn't even in position yet."

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, it has been exasperating. The Mirror of Erised should have been prepared and in place before September 1st, but the difficulties of acquiring it from the Department of Mysteries without attracting undue attention were greater than I anticipated. It will be delivered within the week, and I will spend the month of December attuning it to the castle's wards. We should be ready for Quirrell by the start of second term in January, though I suspect he will wait until later in the year before he makes his move."

"A whole month for attunement, Albus?" said a surprised Lily Potter.

"It is a very Dark artifact, Lily. One I would not normally let come within a hundred miles of this school if the need were not so great. As it is, I will have to deactivate several of the school's protective wards designed to detect and block the intrusion of dark artifacts just to allow its entry, and it may take years before those wards become fully functional again. I wish it weren't necessary, but we all know what is at stake here both for Jim and for the wizarding world."

Severus sniffed. At this point in his life, he cared little for the wizarding world, and even less for The Other Potter. He simply wanted to see the last vestige of the Dark Lord destroyed forever. Then, all his old debts repaid, he could finally start searching for some new life for himself. Brazil, perhaps.

"It is gratifying to know that we all have our priorities in order," he said disdainfully. "Jim Potter first, and the rest of the world second. Oh, but, I forget. I suppose Harry Potter comes third once everyone else on the planet has been attended to."